Review: Delta Transcontinental Business Class – Los Angeles to New York

 

Our flight from SMF we arrived at gate 68 terminal 6. Our departure was gate 51B in terminal 5. Also we had arrived 30 minutes later than scheduled on the SMF leg, so there wasn’t time for a lounge visit and I needed to head directly to gate 51B. When making connections between terminal 5 and 6, travelers need to access an underground tunnel airside between the terminals.

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Delta 40
Los Angeles (LAX) – New York (JFK)
Thursday, December 31st
Departure Time: 8:40AM
Arrival Time: 5:08PM
Flight Time: 5hr28min
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300ER
Seat: 5A, Delta One Transcontinental Business Class

 

Mad dash from 68A

Down the escalator to the terminal 6 connector tunnel

Drab terminal 6 connector tunnel

Gate 51B terminal 5 was a mess

When I arrived to gate 51B boarding had just started.  As is typical with LAX Delta gates, it was a mess. I excused myself and made my way through the crowd and to the boarding bridge. Everyone was boarding the aircraft through the first door on the left, so after the business class section boarded the economy cabin paraded on through. Upon entering the cabin, the cheerful flight attendant (wearing a Christmas stocking cap) directed me to the right side of the cabin to seat 5A.

Delta One business cabin

My seat 5A

The 767 transcontinental is a blueness class product with the Thompson Solutions Vantage flat-bed sleeper seats. The seats are arranged in a staggered pattern and all have direct aisle access. Because of the staggered patter the odd number window seats are a little more private with the preceding seat’s footwell acting as a barrier to the isle. Seat 5A also serves as a pilot’s rest on some flights and thus has a privacy curtain that can be closed around the seat.

 

Pilot’s privacy curtain

Waiting at my seat was the Westin Heavenly pillow and comforter which are, heavenly. Also included is a Tumi amenity kit and noise cancelling headphones. One of the flight attendants was a sweet good natured women, wearing a stocking cap to celebrate the holidays. She quickly brought me a glass of sparkling wine and hung my coat. Her attitude during the entire flight was wonderful.

Tumi amenity kit

Delta headphones

Delta also hands out Sahale Snack packages nuts at the beginning of the flight. They are tasty enough, but I miss the warn nuts Delta use to offer. Call me old school, but the prepackage nuts just seem low-budget.

Sparkling wine

Sahale Snack prepackaged nuts

As I settled into my seat and the captain came on. He gave us the run-down of our day of flying and then indicated he had some bad news. Apparently Delta had been trying to fix the AV equipment for this Delta 767 since 5am (including having techs from Samsung out) and were not able to resolve the programming issues. The entertainment system would not boot up. This didn’t include the Wi-Fi system and GOGO would be operating on the flight.

For me this wasn’t a big deal. I was tired and after breakfast and a little work on the internet, I was going to try and sleep. Even if I had wanted a little entertainment I had my IPAD stocked with a couple movies. I did notice some families traveling in Delta One cabin, families with kids 5 to 10 years old. I was thinking this would have been a real disappointment for them.

Delta’s AV screens are small and the entire AV system is in need of some updating. At least the flight tracker worked

The flight was late in closing the door and pulling back. I took the extra moments to use the aircraft facilities and clean up for the flight. The lavatories on the DL767 are not particularly large, but they are clean and well maintained.  We ended up shutting the cabin door 20 minutes late and with a little delay on the ground we were finally ready for takeoff.

767 Delta One cabin lavatories

Getting ready for take off

Beautiful day in LA

About 20 minutes after takeoff the flight the crew starting to prepare for the service portion of the flight. They passed out menus and offered drinks to our cabin. I had more glass of sparkling wine. Delta has always offered pretty good food domestically and that was true for this flight. The menu looked pretty fancy, and the presentation of the meal service was well done.

Delta One breakfast menu

I ordered the omelet and sat back ready to enjoy my breakfast.

Fruit, cheese and croissant

Cheese omelet

After breakfast and some work I fell asleep for about 2 hours. I awoke to the wonderful smell of baked cookies, which had been passed out a little earlier. The male flight attendant working our cabin noticed me rousing and asked if I wanted a hot chocolate chip cookie? “Absolutely!” was my response. 2 hot freshly baked cookies and a glass of milk were promptly delivered. I would share a photo of this lovely snack, but in the blur of my surprised good fortune I promptly inhaled the desert. It was a beautiful day to fly and eat cookies.

Dazzling vista of the 4 corners region

The rest of the flight transpired without issue and 45 minutes later we landed in New York.

IN SUMMARY

Delta’s business class service, Delta One, is a solid transcontinental product for getting from LAX to JFK. The seat is a little narrow and the AV needs to modernized. This route / class of service has some stiff competition and Delta needs to sharpen their offering. Still, overall service is good and food quality is excellent. This is a great way to cross the county.